PREMIUM PRICING

Hi, I'm Michelle.
VA & Digital Nomad since 2005, and I've pretty much seen it all (good, bad and ugly) when it comes to clients...

IN THIS CLASS

• What Premium Pricing Is.
• Virtual Assistant Pricing Blocks.
• The Premium Pricing Impact.
• Pricing Your Virtual Assistant Services.
• Premium Pricing Success.
• The Premium Pricing Blueprint.

PREMIUM

It's not about charging the most 'expensive' prices.

I've lived in 3rd world countries where £3 an hour would be considered premium if you look at it in terms of the economy.

It's not about changing your title, role or identity so you 'sound' more expensive.

I've always chosen "plain English" titles that most suit the role.

Premium Pricing is making an exchange - enough for you to feel good about your service (and have the resources) to do the absolute best you can for every client, every day - without exception.

Without feeling frustrated, under-valued, or taken advantage of.

The exchange doesn't always need to be financial, but if it's not - further compensation needs to be made through exchange.

You could also accept exchange via products, services or expertise.

But for now we're here to talk cash.

BLOCKS

Pricing Blocks are common and can occur for many different reasons.

BLOCKS INCLUDE

• Beliefs about money
• What 'authorities' say
• Lack of experience
• Self-worth issues
• Outdated information

It doesn't matter so much how you got those blocks, what matters is recognising them and then doing something about it.

"I'm charging as much as I can for what I offer."

I thought that too, until my very first client (who comfortably made 7 figures) insisted paying me £5 an hour more, to match another VA he was hiring.

"My clients won't be able to afford it any more."

This may be true, but if they walked into a hairdresser and couldn't afford the cut, they'd need to find another hairdresser - it won't put the original hairdresser out of business.

"I have to compete with the lower priced services."

There is no competition... when you can position yourself effectively and have something of value to offer.

"The client could hire an employee for cheaper."

Generally not when you take into consideration all the benefits, perks and extras employees require - often by law.

Essentially - none of these comments are based on facts. But this is a fact...

When you price your services too low you'll need to compromise either on your time (rendering the service unprofitable),

or your quality, meaning you don't have the profit margin to deliver the best possible result.

And when you do that, are you going to feel good about offering the service, and is it really what's best for your client?

How will this affect your own business? Profit is required for you to reinvest in growth, personally and professionally, but that will never happen unless your business is profitable.

IMPACT

Before I switched to premium pricing I experienced several problems with clients - which I originally didn't connect to my prices...

As soon as I raised my price bracket, the problems seemed to gradually dissipate.

Over the years I've worked with over 100 clients - these are my observations...

Clients would demand my time (away from tasks), and often not want to pay for it.

When I caved in (gave in to them) or didn't make it clear up front they needed to pay for it, they didn't value my time because they didn't have to pay for it.

When I starting charging premium, clients considered my advice as a valuable investment and that lead to me building a profitable consulting business, and more results for clients.

Potential clients who were bargain hunters would only care about the price, comparing the service or task to other VAs.

This translated into short term business - the client's business would fail because they valued price over quality, which impacted their own business across the board.

When I started charging premium I began working with clients who took their business seriously and were 100% committed to long term sustainability.

The lower the price the higher the expectations and I was asked to perform miracles as if it should be 'easy' - because the price was perceived as low - it must be.

These clients were often desperate - with very little understanding of what was involved in delivering the service and the investment it took to deliver results.

Clients who didn't pay premium would often be difficult, complain and expect too much - they were basically ungrateful.

When I did raise my rates some clients became hostile and rude.

Those clients that were angry at the situation (emotional, unprofessional, etc...) were the clients who were the biggest drain on my time and energy.

Raising my rates proved to be a valuable 'house-cleaning' opportunity, to remove all the negativity from my business.

Client affordability should not be on the VA's shoulders - and if it is, there's a better financial match out there for the client and for the VA.

Allowing the client to find a better match creates a better result for all parties involved, even though it may cause some discomfort at the time.

This doesn't need to be a competitive industry - it's a collaborative one, and if we all do our part by taking responsibility for what's best for both the VA and the client, we'll all be matched to the most appropriate clients.

So charging premium is best for you, for the client and for the industry. And it's your responsibility to ensure you aren't positioning yourself in the wrong price bracket in the market, attracting inappropriate clients that are better matched elsewhere.

PRICING

So how can you begin pricing your service more appropriately to allow you to reach the ultimate goal?

To make an exchange - enough for you to feel good about your service (and have the resources) to do the absolute best you can for every client, every day - without exception.

Half the battle is realising why they are coming to you in the first place.

And then charging appropriately for the exchange.

Don't ever take for granted what you do and what you're capable of.

Anyone who wants apples has two choices - grow them on a tree themselves, or pay for them from someone else who's grown them.

Imagine you have an orchard - you've grown the best apples from scratch, it took years nurturing the trees.

People come to you because they don't want the hassle and learning curve of growing their own apples.

But not only that - clients have no interest in growing apples, it's not what they want to do so the choice is theirs.

How long would it take the client to build a website, when the extent of their Internet knowledge is sending an email?

How long would it take for the client to manage their email, clients/customers and appointments, when organisation is their weakest skill?

How long would it take for your clients to do effective social media marketing, when they procrastinate over creating a tweet?

If you're a multi-talented VA, how valuable are your myriad of skills to someone who can't do any of them to the speed and standard you can?

Once you've got your head around the absolute necessity to charge premium prices, you can follow these steps...

1. Choose your premium rates (packages or hours).

2. Publish them (publicly).

3. Introduce an incremental increase plan for existing clients.

4. Create copy selling the benefits of your new rates (proof, testimonials, higher quality service).

5. Inform your existing clients, and be honest.

If none of these benefits are important to your client, or they don't feel they're getting the value fulfilment from your service - offer assistance to find them a more suitable service.

SUCCESS

Premium pricing my services meant a dramatic change in my business.

I have more time, I enjoy life more, I'm able to travel and do the things I love - because I have complete satisfaction that I'm being paid what I feel I'm worth and I'm providing immense value at the same time!

I take more care and pay more attention to my clients because I have the time and freedom to be able to do this.

In fact, I consider my services a complete bargain - high value, low cost for the exchange.

Premium pricing requires you to value yourself and your abilities. When you do this, you demonstrate to others your value - no matter what industry you're in.

BLUEPRINT

Following a detailed step-by-step plan is the most eloquent way to go about premium pricing your services.

I'd like to introduce you now to the most effective Blueprint I've ever seen for introducing premium pricing into your services.

Jason Gracia
6 Figure Coach, Author, Entrepreneurial Expert (and all round genuine guy).

Jason is an Internet friend, but he's also my 'go to' guru for anything to do with pricing.

When he released a series of training videos on pricing - I decided I HAD to share these with you guys - I spoke to Jason and he agreed to let you in ;-)

Visit premiumpricingblueprint.com and for FREE he's giving you his 3 part video series on how to premium price your services - and products if you have any.

Jason gives away fantastic advice and a complete blueprint for you to follow in the final video in the series.

So if you want less stress, and to have a super-profitable business working with clients who are happy to pay your Premium Prices, take Jason's advice to heart.

There's a complete course at the end of offer, which I've gone through in detail, and it's AMAZING, but even if you aren't ready for that just yet - take the FREE training with gratitude!

THANK YOU!